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LOS ANGELES — Firefighters sought to prevent a wildfire in the foothills near Los Angeles from
flaring up yesterday, as they put out embers from a blaze that has destroyed five homes, officials
said.

The Colby fire, which officials said started from a campfire early Thursday, has blackened
nearly 1,900 acres of drought-parched chaparral and is 30 percent contained, said U.S. Forest
Service spokesman Win Robert Brady.

That was the same level of containment firefighters reported on Friday, but officials were
optimistic that they were gaining the upper hand on the blaze centered in the San Gabriel Mountains
on territory that is part of the Angeles National Forest.

“It’s not spreading anymore,” Brady said.

More than 1,100 firefighters, backed by four water-dropping airplanes and three helicopters,
battled the blaze yesterday, officials said.

Hot, dry Santa Ana winds from interior deserts fanned the flames when it broke out on Thursday,
but the next day, the winds subsided and the fire barely broadened.

About 3,500 residents in Glendora and neighboring Azusa northeast of Los Angeles vacated their
homes on the order of authorities as the fire approached.

By Friday morning, about 2,800 evacuees had been allowed to return home. About 200 to 300 homes
in an Azusa neighborhood remained under mandatory evacuation orders, according to U.S. Forest
Service spokeswoman Sherry Rollman.

The fire has destroyed five homes and damaged 17, Brady said.

Three firefighters, including one who was hospitalized with serious burns, and two civilians
with minor injuries have been hurt, he said.

The blaze broke out when three men were building a campfire and used paper to feed the flames,
officials said. Bail was set at $500,000 for each of the men, who were jailed on Thursday on
suspicion of recklessly starting the fire.